peach_cube Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 I am reading Scott Hahn's A Father Who Keeps his Promises and was wondering if someone could help me out with something. In the third Chapter splitting the Adam, he mentions that "When God then 'Breathed into his nostrils the breath of life', the word 'breath' (ruah) is the same as 'spirit'. God is depicted as directly breathing his own spirit into Adam. The Church fathers took this to mean that from his first breath, Adam was endowed with the Holy Spirit, not just a rational soul." There is no citation or foonote for any writings of the church fathers that I might reference, and a Protestant friend of mine thinks that this position is false. I would be grateful for any references on this matter. Peace, Peach_cube Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmotherofpirl Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 EWTN to the rescue: breath and life Question from PJ on 09-06-2003: In Genesis 2:7, God breathed into the nostrils of pre-Adam's clay body to create a living soul Adam. Are we to take God's breath here as: 1. a human soul 2. grace 3. the Holy Spirit Which of the three should we interpret this as meaning? Answer by Fr. John Echert on 09-09-2003: Assuming that Adam was created in a state of grace and as a son of God, the breath of God may refer to all three, namely, the human soul, infused with preternatural grace, and God's own abiding presence--what we now call sanctifying grace. Thanks, PJ Father Echert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siebersusi Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 ;) Very intresting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thy Geekdom Come Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 It's interesting to note that many ancient cultures saw breath as a soul. There are two explanations I know of: 1. God "breathes" the soul into a person. 2. People saw the last breathe as the last bit of the soul being released. This can also help to prove the theories that point to one original language. The Latin "spiro" means "I breathe"...the Latin "spiritus" means "soul" or "spirit". In fact, the ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras started a cult that, among other things, believed that the air we breathe was composed of a mixture of souls. To him, the substance of gas was the soul. He was so insistent that his cult refused to eat meats, beans, or anything gassy, so that they wouldn't "fluffy air extraction out their souls." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmotherofpirl Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 Ruah is Hebrew for breath and spirit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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